Untitled
by LaTragicomedia
Summary: Possibly a series of oneshots. All Shiznat thus far.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Just a bit of slice of life kind of fluff. 'Cause I myself am bored. A rather pointless oneshot. For my woofy. ::hugs:: Probably a bit out of character as I must admit to not having seen all of Mai-HiME. Though I've seen over half… I just skipped most of Alyssa's arc (I'm poor, OK?). Umm… and I'll one day finish that Azumanga fic… This takes place… post-series sometime… or maybe AU if I really screwed up anything. Maybe I'll do more than one. Doubtful, but it's possible.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME, yo.

She was bored. Bored, bored, bored. And angry. Well, more like _frustrated_.

'_Sexually?'_ a little voice somewhere in the back of her mind deviously suggested.

_NO!_ Damn it all, she was beginning to think like _her_. Not that it was _completely_ a bad thing, but still, her own mind wouldn't think things like that. No _way_.

And yes, she was still frustrated. But not in that way! Not at _all_. She huffed aloud thus ending the internal debate, blushing despite the fact that she was alone in her apartment.

She _liked_ being alone. There were _tons_ of things to do! Like play video games, but she had tried that and it _had_ worked… for all of twenty minutes. Or maybe go on a walk. Five minutes after stepping outside she had mentally declared it much too warm to go on a walk even though she generally didn't let the weather get to her. Or there was what she had previously considered a guaranteed enjoyable way to kill some time: take her bike for a ride. Waiting for it to cool off outside she had sped off on her motorcycle and was amazed to find that it just didn't feel the same. It was the same wind, the same beautiful Ducati, the same streets, but the rush… it just wasn't there. Just as that warm embrace, arms wrapped snugly around her waist, was noticeably absent.

Sometime around dusk, keeping with her reluctant promise not to ride by herself on the coastal roads at night without letting someone know, she had returned to her apartment beyond annoyed and had started furiously cleaning the place, desperately trying to find _some_ way to pass the time. A couple hours later found her splayed out on her bed, staring at the ceiling as one eye twitched a bit every so often, a constant reminder of her aggravation.

So, it really kind of was her fault.

She _could_ have gone to the wedding. She was told that it would be just fine. That she would be introduced as just a friend, if she preferred. That it would be dull without her. A dress had even been purchased for her, a midnight blue affair with a halter-top. She had then been dragged to the store to get shoes to match and had protested all the way, doing her very best to resist crumbling under the combined effect of puppy eyes and pout. She had ultimately failed and ended up trying on several other ensembles purely for the enjoyment of her companion who had more than once made comments inappropriate to be said at a high-end department store. Well, if it made her happy… it was generally worth it in the end.

She wished she had gone with that advice earlier that day though. Sighing a bit and furrowing her eyebrows, she remembered the disappointed expression on her golden-brown haired friend's face. She had only caught a brief glimpse before turning away, not wanting to lose her nerve and revoke her decision.

Then there had been the phone call. She heard the music from the reception in the background as a voice greeted her joyfully. The ceremony had been absolutely gorgeous. The flowers were beautiful, the food exquisite. She had been asked to dance several times and had complied though purely out of politeness she had assured her, commenting that the last fellow had seemed a bit tipsy before giggling to herself. _She_ was the one who sounded tipsy. She then admitted to having a couple glasses of wine, but waved off her companion's concerns before getting quiet and telling her that she was missed and that she wished she was there.

Feeling a sharp twinge of guilt, she had responded that she would see her tomorrow before wishing her a good night and receiving a similar response.

Five minutes later she had called back.

"I miss you, too!"

Sounding pleasantly surprised, the other woman had softly answered, "I'll see you soon, my Natsuki."

Once again feeling her cheeks heat up she had repeated her good nights and farewells before hanging up.

That had been much earlier, somewhere in between her bike ride and her complete overhaul of the apartment. It had now been dark out for several hours already and not only could she not sleep, she couldn't find anything else to do that was to her liking. Grumbling a bit to herself, she got up and walked to the kitchen, making a quick stop before arriving in the living room area, switching on the television set and flopping down on the couch.

….::::….

Finally finished making her farewell rounds to various relatives and family friends, many offering compliments on her dress and overall appearance, she got a ride from a cousin who was also leaving to the hotel she was planning on staying the night at before checking out early and arranging for transportation, paying little attention to the cost.

Not even bothering to change out of her dress and into something more comfortable, she had freshened up a bit, fixing her hair and make up before packing her things. After all, puppy was waiting. Natsuki had received said endearment after being caught speaking baby talk to some puppies at the pet store. It had been one of the cutest things she had yet to witness, if a bit irritating. Canines seemed to make her girlfriend melt just as much if not more than she herself did. In a word, it was absurd. Recalling that particular incident, she reminded herself that no furball made her Natsuki blush and sigh like she could. Smiling at that thought, she requested that the driver speed up, wanting to reach her destination as quickly as possible.

The location of the wedding was over an hour's drive from home and she had gotten a room for the night, hoping to convince Natsuki to accompany her to the event. Though Natsuki had slowly grown less jumpy in private, she was still extremely skittish in public. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that her Natsuki would remain adamant to the end in her refusal.

She sighed a bit forlornly as she watched the street lamps blur by outside the window. Placing her chin despondently on a palm, she laid her other hand on the seat, starting a bit when it touched something. Looking over she grinned secretively to herself before picking up the object and resting it in her lap.

After what seemed like forever, they finally arrived at Natsuki's apartment complex. Taking care of the expense of the ride, she tipped the driver generously before quickly grabbing her things and almost running but not quite to Natsuki's door. Having come into possession of her own copy of the key not long ago, she quietly slid into the residence gravitating towards the sound of the television set, knowing that was where she would most likely find her midnight haired beauty.

What she found was a somewhat disheveled Natsuki, popcorn bowl balancing in her lap with a spoon in one hand and a jar of mayonnaise in the other. She appeared to be systematically scooping out a spoonful of mayonnaise and then allowing the popcorn to stick to the white substance of questionable content before shoving the unique combination in her mouth and swallowing it whole. That, however, was not what worried Shizuru. Natsuki appeared to be watching reruns of daytime talk shows. Her Natsuki hated talk shows. And reality T.V. And "chick flicks". And soap operas. And infomercials and regular commercials as well. And she claimed to hate "kids movies" though Shizuru knew better.

_Sniff._

"Natsuki?"

There went the popcorn. Jumping up, the bowl tumbling off her lap she turned to the sound of the familiar voice, blinking in surprise, though if Shizuru didn't know any better, it would appear that her eyes were a bit moist.

"Shi-shizuru!? What are you doing here? I-I thought you were going to stay the night at a hotel!" Natsuki questioned, too shocked to be annoyed that Shizuru walked into the apartment without warning.

"I missed my Natsuki so I thought I would come and surprise her," she smiled, sauntering over to give her a one-armed embrace and nuzzle her neck a bit before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Natsuki flushed but leaned into the embrace before remembering something. Hurriedly grabbing the remote, she shut off the television and rubbed her eyes a bit.

"Think I got something in my eye," she lamely explained.

Shizuru raised an eyebrow.

_Sniff._

Natsuki looked at Shizuru uncomfortably before muttering an explanation, gaze quickly turning away to the side.

"... it was a special on family pets… There was this one dog who rescued his kid from drowning… but… but he didn't make it."

Shizuru affectionately pat her girlfriend on the head.

"There, there. He's probably in Doggie Heaven. I bet he even met Duran."

"Mmhmm," the other girl nodded before burying her face in a shoulder and mumbling an "I missed you."

Brightening at hearing those muffled words, she slowly pulled out something she had been hiding behind her back.

"I missed Natsuki as well. I even brought back a present for Natsuki that I caught at the wedding."

_Caught?_ Natsuki puzzled over the word choice.

Frowning a bit in her confusion, she pulled back from the embrace to focus her attention on the object Shizuru held in her hand. It was a bouquet of flowers, the stems wrapped in ribbon. Looking over to Shizuru's face with a quizzical expression on her own, she saw her girlfriend smile before leaning in and whispering in her ear.

"No pressure."

Realization slowly dawned on her countenance before she attempted to respond, only able to babble incoherently.

Shizuru just continued to smile before casually commenting as she appraised their surroundings, "Ara, Natsuki cleaned the apartment."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: This was sort of a leftover from the other night when I typed up the first one. More of a drabble than a oneshot even, so don't get too excited or anything. There is no timeline to this… so… it doesn't necessarily take place before or after the other one. More Shiznat. Shizuru might tease Natsuki a bit (translation: a lot), but she still adores her. Who knows when or if there will be another one… or who it will cover. Just depends on my whims (though I'll take character focus suggestions into consideration).

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Mai-Hime.

Shizuru liked to make Natsuki flail.

It was probably one of her favorite things to do. Not only was it entertaining to watch, it required very little effort. Natuski's reactions often bordered theatrical and were generally accompanied with the rapid suffusion of red coloring her cheeks. Shizuru also enjoyed making Natsuki blush. It was almost if not just as enjoyable as making Natsuki flail.

Flailing could be triggered by a variety of things. When Natsuki felt socially compromised, that is to say, when Natsuki very much wanted to remain her (adorable) gruff self but felt it necessary to attempt to be courteous, Shizuru had observed a sort of angry panic arise in Natsuki's eyes that went together with slightly jerkier movements that made it clear any degree of civility was indeed forced. Once out of the awkward situation, Natsuki would then heatedly explain that she was annoyed and state her case as to exactly why, sometimes using unnecessary expletives and often waving her arms around in a way that was both wasteful of energy and amusing to behold. She would then realize how worked up she had gotten, clamp her mouth shut and remain sullen for some time following. Her Natsuki wasn't very adept at being polite, but her glower could have easily held its own among both blushing and flailing as far as Shizuru's favorite things were concerned (it was rather cute).

There was also the flailing caused by any sort of suggestive activities or phrases. This was possibly Shizuru's favorite type of flailing, especially if she herself caused it. Having shamelessly monopolized Natsuki's time as of late, she had had plenty of delightful opportunities to exploit the more dramatic tendencies of her companion.

They were currently on their way to what could have been labeled as a HiME get together, but that topic tended to bring up bad blood between certain individuals and there were other miscellaneous attendees who were only vaguely connected to that whole affair.

Shizuru had had her fun on the way over causing the second kind of flailing to occur as Natsuki laid down the ground rules as, after all, it was to be their first large social gathering where they would be attending as an official couple.

There was rule one: No groping in public.

"Ara, does that mean if I happen to find Natsuki alone, it would be alright?"

Rule number two: No groping to, from _or_ at the party. Even if it seemed like they were alone. She knew too many people who often had recording devices on their person whether it was a camera, cell phone, tape recorder, or some other electronic or battery-run apparatus. In private, caresses were welcome, in front of individuals such as Nao or Chie Harada, however, soft touches would suddenly become photos of her being felt up by Shizuru's grabby hands.

'_And liking it?_' Shizuru had wanted to ask, but instead she decided to nudge Natsuki in a different direction by way of guilt trip.

"Mou, Natsuki is cruel. She does not want me to be close to her." Pouting also tended to cause a third type of flailing where Natsuki would backpedal furiously in an attempt to appease Shizuru. This was also very agreeable.

Addendum to rule numbers one and two: Still no groping, but hugs and possibly a kiss or two on the cheek were acceptable. She'd have to think about it.

Shizuru also had begun to enjoy compromise as well. She liked and was used to getting her way, but there was no harm in allowing Natsuki to offer her own concessions especially seeing as how at times they were much more than Shizuru hoped for. Her Natsuki surprised her sometimes.

Rule number three: No inappropriate gestures or expressions. Falling under this category was embarrassing endearments, the steamy "come hither" look, suggestive pronunciations of her name--

"Na-tsu-ki?"

and… and blowing her kisses while saying her name like that was also out of the question!

Blushing, flailing… and was that a slight glower that she saw?

Rule number four: No looking for loopholes in the other rules. Please? Just this once? She'd never live it down...

Shizuru sighed a bit at rule number four. Though she was much more proficient at playing the game than Natsuki was, it was rather difficult considering her greatest weakness was her "opponent". In the end, it was near impossible to deny Natsuki's request for very long.

"If it is what my Natsuki wishes," she conceded, smiling graciously.

Natsuki's face broke out into a relieved grin.

"Thanks, Shizuru. I-I'll make it up to you later somehow! I just… y'know… with some of them... They're kind of crazy," the girl bashfully explained, a few of her friends and acquaintances immediately coming to mind.

Shizuru nodded in understanding.

_Make it up to me later, hmm?_

She supposed she could behave. _More or less._

After all, the consolation prize would be more than worth it, she would make sure of it, and Natsuki had been highly entertaining (and endearing) with her little set of rules that she had made on their way to the party.

_All in all, it appears to be a win-win situation…_


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: A bit more… melancholy than the other two, but Shiznat lends itself to a bit of misery and this is in a very small dose. Probably not at all what people wanted as far as the party was concerned. I blame it on my mood last night when I wrote most of it.: p Shiznat is not perfect, but they're willing to help each other out and work on things. Hopefully the word play at the end isn't too dated to pick up on. Favor in the plural has a distinct connotation. Oh! And my apologies for being a bum and not replying to all reviews from the last err chapter yet. I was on vacation.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME.

This was one of the strangest, most eclectic get-togethers that she had ever been to. But they were Natsuki's friends and in a way she already knew them very well. Or at least who they were a year or so ago back when she had felt it necessary to monitor Natsuki's interactions with her peers. It had been all for Natsuki's safety, of course.

She had backed off considerably after her post-HiME "rebirth", allowing her friend to initiate most of their interactions, which at one point had sent her Natsuki off on a little tirade asking her if she wasn't interested anymore.

_Interested in what way?_ She had asked in all seriousness, knowing full well she was pushing her luck.

Surprisingly Natsuki had paused a moment before backing down, quietly explaining with averted eyes that she had hoped they could still be friends after all that had happened.

Things started changing from then on. Slowly, almost imperceptibly Natsuki opened up to the point where she became more comfortable with her companionship than she had been even before she had betrayed her trust.

There was an unspoken agreement between them that things had not been right during the Festival. Her own guilt at times was overwhelming, but just as Natsuki opened up to her, she would offer small revelations in return. It was surprisingly difficult to divulge her inner thoughts, but if it enabled her to once again be closer to Natsuki, then she was willing to go to great lengths even if the outcome would ultimately leave her as, at best, a sisterly figure in the younger girl's life.

Happily, however, that was not the case as she was currently hanging on the arm of said girl who was stiff as a board, eyes wide and anxious. She chuckled a bit to herself upon seeing the fearful expression.

She guessed Natsuki would not appreciate it if she ruffled her hair in front of her friends.

While her thoughts weren't so distracted by memories of her days of unrequited and single-minded devotion, however, she began to realize that she was somewhat bored. It wasn't that the company was boring per se… it was just that beyond Natsuki, she had very little interest in the rest of the crowd. That and small groups of the partygoers had literally seen her at her very worst. The rest had merely seen her at her most politically correct, the smiling kaichou. And that persona had also gotten rather dull after a time once she had become disillusioned with playing president.

Well, better to be lackluster than psychotic…

"You all right?" a voice tinged with concern whispered as she was pulled to the side by her companion.

"Hmmm?" she responded, fixing the crack in her social mask. Her smile must have become slightly strained after her less than pleasant musings.

"You're kinda… quiet." The small break in speech letting her know things were going unsaid.

She felt her expression soften a bit as she looked back into Natsuki's questioning gaze.

"I'm fine. Just admiring the… view," she murmured in response, using a loose strand of hair as an excuse to brush Natsuki's cheek in order to put the stray tresses back in place.

The navy haired girl blushed prettily at the contact before sucking in a soft gasp of surprise as a thumb continued to caress her face.

It was strange how one person could make her simultaneously want to laugh and cry…

Reluctantly removing her hand, she knew that if she continued the attentions she was paying to her companion's soft skin, she would not only embarrass her in front of her friends, but it would be much harder to pull back.

Natsuki seemed to shake herself out of her reverie, before blinking back focus into her eyes.

"Well… if you're sure you're ok… or just don't wanna talk about it now… Umm… I was thinking… since you have kept up your end of the agreement… y'know, no err grabbing and stuff at the party… you wanna leave soon and catch a movie? Or uhh I noticed you didn't eat much, so we could go to one of those restaurants you like. I guess I'm not really dressed for anything too fancy… Whatever you want to do."

"Whatever I want…" she repeated, as if she really had to think about it.

What she wanted was Natsuki. No troubling thoughts of the past. No bland conversations with people she hardly knew. All she wanted was her Natsuki who gave her peace of mind.

She was a constant reminder that she had been forgiven and forgiven by the one person who mattered.

Smile once again imbued with confidence she raised a finger to her lips in thought.

"Natsuki is taking requests, then?" she questioned sweetly.

"Uh… I uhh guess that's one way of putting it… I owe you a favor or whatever," the other woman responded somewhat nervously.

She had conducted herself with an impressive degree of restraint for an entire afternoon and had become a bit downhearted as a result of such restrictions (while her hands were not permitted to wander, her mind was). Natsuki saying the most wonderfully wrong thing at the wrong time was just what she needed to get back in a pleasant mood again.

"Did Natsuki say she owes me favors?" she felt her smile widen from polite to pleased.

She would pity Natsuki if she wasn't sure Natsuki would in the end agree that it had been worth it to fall into the traps set by unintentional blunders caused by poor word choice.

"Umm… yeah?" the other woman offered a bit warily with just enough annoyance in her tone to show she didn't appreciate having to repeat herself.

"Wonderful. I agree."

"…huh?"


End file.
